ContestHappening 1 2019 | Intro to the rider field

During the summer, press releases about wildcards for various riders kept coming in, and some athletes also decided to stay away from contest freeriding during the summer.

Wildcards Ski

From a skier's point of view, the participation of freeski legend Tanner Hall (USA) is of course a highlight. Tanner will be there for the whole season and many are eagerly awaiting his performance. We now know that he can do it in good conditions and in film settings. Can he also hold his own in the sometimes difficult conditions of the tour in a contest format against the now very strong competition among the men's skiers? Norwegian mogul skier Hedvig Wessel will strengthen the women's field. Injury wildcards are available for Carl Regnér (SWE), who broke his hand in Japan in 2018, and Jackie Paaso (USA), who has been struggling with knee problems since her crash at Xtreme Verbier 2017. Drew Tabke (USA), Aymar Navarro (ESP), Maude Besse (SUI) and Fabio Studer (AUT), now the only Austrian in the field, have also received wildcards for various reasons.

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Wildcards Snowboard

Travis Rice also wants to be back at the stop in Japan (January 19-26, 2019). He joins other riders from the "film industry", such as Gigi Rüf and Victor De Le Rue. The latter is one of the younger brothers of FWT legend Xavier De Le Rue. Attentive readers may notice that Victor has already been announced once as a season wildcard. Apparently the FWT organization invited the wrong third brother of the De Le Rue siblings last year. This year, however, Victor's participation should work out. Like last year, Wakana Hama from Japan has been allocated a season wildcard.

red - defending champions; yellow - wildcards; blue - FWQ promoted teams — Red - defending champions; yellow - wildcards; blue - FWQ promoted teams

During the summer, the two long-time Austrian FWT participants Stefan Häusl and the overall winner of 2017, Lorraine Huber, announced their retirement from contest freeriding. It was not entirely clear for a long time whether Eva Walkner would continue, but she will ride at least one more season. Here is a brief overview of the four categories:

Women's skiing

In the women's skiing category, Ariana Tricomi (ITA) is aiming to defend her title from last year. Her fiercest rival: two-time FWT World Champion Eva Walkner from Kuchl (AUT), who is gunning for the title again after her second place in 2018. Hedvig Wessel (NOR) and Maude Besse (SUI) join the field as wildcards, while Juliette Williman (FRA) and Jacqueline Pollard (USA) represent the up-and-coming youngsters from the FWQ.

Men's skiing

Last year's champion Kristoffer Turdell (SWE) will be up against backcountry freestyle pioneer Tanner Hall (USA), who, like the 2013 FWT champ, will be looking forward to the performances of Konstantin Ottner from Kaufbeuren (GER), who now moves up to the FWT as runner-up at the 2018 FWQ. "I'm really pleased that my participation in the FWT worked out faster than I had dreamed," said the 20-year-old from the Allgäu region. "For my first season, I planned to have a cool time, meet new people, plow up lots of powder and make the cut for Verbier and the following season." In addition to Konstantin, spectators can also look forward to seeing the young New Zealander Hank Bilous (NZL), who has a similar skiing style! Here is a portrait of Konstantin:

Snowboard men

The big question for the snowboarders is whether one rider will be able to stop Sammy Luebke (USA) on his way to his fourth FWT title in a row. Thomas Feurstein from Schruns (AUT), the runner-up in the 2019 FWT, and Gigi Rüf from Bregenz (AUT), who came fourth overall last year after his victory in Fieberbrunn, are among the closest favorites. Big mountain specialist Victor De Le Rue (FRA) is also trying to get into the mix with a wildcard, as is his compatriot Ludovic Guillot-Diat, who qualified via the FWQ.

Women's snowboard

After her overall victory in 2018, Vienna's Manuela Mandl (AUT) wants to be at the top of the women's snowboard podium again at the end of this season. Her rivals include wildcard Hama Wakana (JPN) as well as Maria Kuzma (NZL) and Nicole Kelly (CAN), who have earned their starting place thanks to strong performances at the FWQ. "I'm going to take a relaxed approach to the FWT 2019," said Manuela Mandl. "Of course I want to continue to improve my own level. But I'm definitely not going to stress myself out and enjoy every moment on the mountain. I recovered well in the summer after an injury and I'm really looking forward to snowboarding!"